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"And you sir? Where are you heading now?""Well I'm trading in my bird's eye view for two solid feet on the ground. This is the last time you'll be seeing me for a stretch.""You're going to disappear. Nowhere to be found.""Nowhere? You know me better than that Phil, I'll be everywhere."

Colonel Nicholas "Nick" Joseph Fury is a former officer of the US Army and an espionage veteran of the CIA during the Cold War. He joined S.H.I.E.L.D., a covert international peacekeeping organization which operates as humanity's first line of defense against Earth's most dangerous enemies. He quickly impressed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s higher-ups, and was promoted to the position of Director, becoming the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. He led S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, spearheading the Avengers Initiative, Project T.A.H.I.T.I., Project Insight, and other operations.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Military Actions

In his youth, Nick Fury joined the United States Armed Forces, obtaining the rank of Colonel before leaving the military. He had a lot of action in Soviet territory. He was responsible for deporting Vinorovsky when he tried to sell bad information during the Cold War.

Some months later, Fury partook a fake mission to uncover a mole inside the CIA. Partnered with Escobar they were sent on a mission to Budapest to meet Comrade Verliecki. While there he encountered Vinorovsky, who attempted to attack him in the nightclub; unable to beat him, Vinorovsky sent Soviet forces behind Fury. On their way, Fury explained to Escobar their mission; their contact would hand them dossiers of 12 undercover CIA operatives in Soviet Union.

Inside Verliecki's apartment, Fury pretended to fight with Verliecki and knocking him out. Suddenly, Escobar revealed his true colors and pointed his gun at Fury, ordering him to hand over the case. He told Fury to not take it personally, as it had nothing to do with him, but for the end of the Cold War. Fury attacked and defeated him, then Verliecki knocked Escobar out.

Verliecki told Fury that he filled it with cigars for him, as it been a long time since they sparred. Verliecki asked Fury if he was okay, and Fury simply replied that he could not hurt him if he tried; Verliecki said that he tried. The Soviet authorities, found Escobar unconscious tied to a chair, with a fake CIA ID identifying him as Nick Fury, framing him of Fury's previous actions in Soviet territory.

Fury left and called Timothy Dugan who asked Escobar's status; Fury stated that he flipped. With the mole gone, Dugan stated that it was time to celebrate. Fury told him not to start without him, as he was bringing cigars. [2]

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Director Fury

"One thing I know for sure: Nobody is better suited to protect this world than me and my people."

Fury's extraordinary military and espionage skills won him the invitation to join the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, an international peacekeeping organization led by Alexander Pierce. For many years, Fury served as one of the agency's best agents, eventually becoming Deputy Chief of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Bogotá Station. When Colombian National Libertation Army rebels took several political officers hostage, including Pierce's daughter, from the Embassy there, Fury proposed a plan to get the hostages out, but Pierce insisted to negotiate with the rebels. However, he disobeyed Pierce's orders and got the hostages out.[3]

For his actions, Fury was promoted to director when Pierce gave up his position to become a member of the World Security Council.[3][4] Fury is also credited as a possible co-creator/designer of the Avengers Initiative as well as the special operations commander. Fury lost sight in his left eye, being the cost he had to pay for trusting someone.[3]

Hawkeye and Black Widow

Fury found the most talented archer in the world, Clint Barton, who had never missed. Fury hired Barton into S.H.I.E.L.D. when Barton was young and helped him set up a safehouse where he could live with his wife, Laura[5]. When Barton was 27, Fury sent him on a mission to eliminate a young Russian assassin codenamed Black Widow. Barton found her, but instead of killing her, he admitted her to S.H.I.E.L.D. The two then began a long partnership codenamed STRIKE Team: Delta.[6]

The Darkhold

"Fury had no problem opening up Pandora's Box from time to time, but even he was afraid of this thing."

Among the various mysterious and dangerous artifacts that Fury searched for was the Darkhold, a book that was said to contain infinite knowledge. Since the book was already sought by such infamous individuals as the HYDRA leaders Red Skull and Daniel Whitehall, Fury searched for it too, afraid of what the book's power could do in wrong hands, but he never found it.[7]

Meeting Bruce Banner

"Our mission was... is to find ourselves a super-soldier. Whatever that force of nature was back at the bar clearly wasn't it. So until we find what we're looking for everything else, including Banner, is secondary. It's Thunderbolt Ross' shitstorm to deal with. Do I make myself clear?"

Eleven years later, Fury went to find Bruce Banner and learn what Thaddeus Ross' "Super-Soldier Program" did to him. He tried to earn Banner's trust by buying him a beer, but Banner refused, describing himself as "sort of a mean drunk." Fury continued to try to earn his trust, eventually deciding to do so with a ruse. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents named Johnson and Peterson were instructed by Fury to act as if they were in a relationship. Johnson then pretended to cheat on Peterson with Banner, something that made Banner confused and gave Peterson reason to attack the man who was stealing his "girlfriend". Fury then acted as if he was going to help Banner, but Peterson unintentionally punched Banner in the face.[8]

This turned Banner into the Hulk and he went on a rampage. Fury attempted to calm him down, but Hulk yelled at him, causing nearly all the glass in the room to shatter. Fury kept a straight face and did not move at all. Hulk then ran out through the wall. Two days later, Fury called a meeting for S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, including Phil Coulson. He told them that the Hulk was only a secondary matter.[9]

Three months later, when Stark broke free from a cave in Afghanistan, Jasper Sitwell informed Fury about some sort of aircraft in the Kunar province with high energy signals.[11] After Stark was rescued from the desert and returned home, Fury speculated with Coulson about whether Stark was brainwashed by the Ten Rings, or if he had been sent home to get equipment to build his captors weapons of his own free will. To put their suspicions to rest, Fury sent Coulson to schedule a debriefing for Stark. A few days later, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites detected something that looked like an unmanned aerial vehicle. When Fury and Coulson saw the footage of the "vehicle's" flight through the streets of Los Angeles, Fury realized the "vehicle" was actually Stark in a flying armored suit. To be sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. hacked Stark's computers and found confirmation that Stark was working on the development of the armored suit.[10]

Later, when Stark was in Gulmira, Fury asked Sitwell how similar these signals were to the previous one; Sitwell replied that it was both stronger and faster than last time. When Fury asked Sitwell to contact Edwards Air Force Base to call the F-22 Raptors off, he replied that they already had attempted radio contact but were not successful.[11] Going to Gulmira with Coulson, Fury found evidence of Stark, in a repainted armor, destroying the Ten Rings' piles of weapons. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Coulson and Fury saw that Stark had been chased by two F-22 Raptors and, when one plane went down and Stark risked his life to save the pilot, Fury finally realized that he was wrong. He then ordered Coulson to check Stane's activities with Stark's financials, which revealed that it was Stane who had been dealing with the terrorists.[10]

"Good morning Director Fury, I regret to inform you that I’m handing in my resignation. I know you brought me on to Project T.A.H.I.T.I. because you trusted my judgment, and it’s that judgment that’s telling me I can no longer, in my good conscience, let the testing continue."

Fearing the death of a member of the Avengers Initiative, Fury selected Agent Coulson to be the head of Project T.A.H.I.T.I., a project with the goal of reviving subjects from the dead. With a new drug made from the bodily fluids of a deceased extraterrestrial, the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists attempted to cure a group of terminally ill people. The initial tests were partially successful, but later the experiments went horribly wrong, causing the test subjects to mentally deteriorate. Finally, Phil Coulson recommended the shutdown of the project. However, Fury secretly decided to continue with the project.[14][15]

Helping Tony Stark

"What do you want from me?""What do we want from you? What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with."

Shortly afterwards, Fury learned that Iron Man was suffering with palladium poisoning,[19] and had been involved in a very public fight with his friend James Rhodes at Tony Stark's Mansion, during which much of the mansion had been destroyed and Rhodes had stolen one of the suits and handed it over to the United States Armed Forces. Fury confronted the hungover and still suited Tony Stark at a donut shop for becoming a problem that he had to solve.

As they sat inside the shop, Stark continued to insist that he was not interested in joining the Avengers, which annoyed Fury even more as he told him that he had bigger issues to deal with around the world than Stark, mocking him for losing one of his suits to Rhodes. Natasha Romanoff later arrived and Fury revealed he had put her undercover within Stark Industries, Romanoff then provided him with a shot which eased back Stark's infection, although it did not fully cure it. When Stark insisted that there was no cure, Fury informed Stark that there was indeed a way to cure his infection, he just had not found it yet and promised to help him find what he needed.

Fury and Stark returned to Stark's home where Fury began providing information on the background of Anton Vanko, the father of Ivan Vanko, who had recently attempted to kill Stark, and revealed that Stark's father Howard was in fact one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury and Romanoff provided Stark with information and materials from his father, which proved instrumental in finding a replacement power source for his personal Arc Reactor.

Fury left Agent Phil Coulson at Stark's home with orders not to allow Stark to leave until he had found a cure for his infection. Fury told Stark that he would be keeping his eye on him before leaving. [20] As things in New Mexico became more complicated with the discovery of the mysterious Mjølnir, Fury sent Agent Clint Barton to join Coulson at the site. He also assigned Agent Romanoff to keep track of the fugitive Bruce Banner at Culver University.[19]

Recruiting a Consultant

Fury met with Stark once again after Stark had defeated Ivan Vanko's attack on the Stark Expo. Stark had proven himself unsuitable for the Avengers Initiative, but after informing him of this, Fury offered to recruit his services as a consultant. Stark agreed as long as Fury helped him convince Senator Stern to present him and James Rhodes with the medals they were being awarded for their bravery.[20] A moment later, Agent Romanoff gave him her report about Banner's transformation into the Hulk and his fight against Emil Blonsky, who was enhanced by the modified version of the Super Soldier Serum. At the same time, Agent Coulson called to inform him about the Destroyer's attack on Puente Antiguo.[21]

After Thor's victory over the Destroyer, Fury was informed that General Thaddeus Ross hacked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers. Fury confronted Ross, who replied that he was not going to leave the safety of the world in his hands. Fury also discovered that the World Security Council gave Ross permission to extract the information he needed from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers. Worried, Fury wanted to prevent Ross from capturing Banner, but it was too late, because Banner was already captured by Ross' soldiers in New York City. Despite this, Fury sent Agent Romanoff to the laboratory of Dr. Samuel Sterns, Banner's colleague, to take any papers Banner might left behind. Romanoff witnessed Hulk's fight against the Abomination and Sterns' transformation. Before Sterns could do any damage, Romanoff shot him through the leg and called her colleagues to take custody of him.[22]

Fury's recruitment drive turned to people who had been involved in a destructive incident in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico. He summoned Culver University astrophysics professor Erik Selvig, who had been closely associated with the incident, to the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, and then drew the scientist's attention to a secure, portable storage case. Fury revealed a glowing cube within the case and suggested that it was a source of immense power, although nobody had been able to determine a means of tapping that power. Selvig accepted the challenge to investigate the object further.[23] A day later, Fury gave his report to the World Security Council. Finally satisfied with his work, the Council decided to increase the funding for the agency, expand jurisdictions for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents, and augment Fury's strategic authority.[24]

A year after the "big week", the Avengers Initiative was slowly losing traction by the time another potential recruit was found. Steve Rogers, the world's first "superhero", had been frozen in the Arctic since his battle against Red Skull during World War II, and had miraculously survived his entombment.[25] Fury oversaw his recovery and rehabilitation, personally intercepting him when the man awoke and escaped into the heart of New York City.[26]

With little to show for his efforts in bringing together the Avengers, Fury shelved his plan and began focusing on weaponry instead. "Phase 2", as the offshoot idea came to be called, involved re-engineering weapons technology that had emerged in the hands of HYDRA years earlier during World War II, as well as other cutting edge, or alien technology. The Tesseract, which he had assigned Professor Erik Selvig to investigate, formed a significant part of this puzzle which Fury kept a close eye on throughout Selvig's experiments.

When the Tesseract began emitting unexpected levels of Gamma Radiation, Fury was quick to personally take charge of the operation. He arrived at the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. base with Maria Hill; there they met Phil Coulson. Fury ordered the evacuation of the base and all Phase 2 prototypes to be moved to a safe distance. Fury ordered updates from Selvig and Clint Barton, who had been stationed at the base to keep an eye on the experiments, learning that the Tesseract's activities were unexplainable at this point, although Barton was convinced that Selvig was not to blame and instead explained his theory that the Tesseract was a door to the other end of space.

The emissions proved to be a prelude to the appearance of Loki on Earth. Fury initially tried to reason with Loki, but Loki responded by killing many staff in the laboratory with his Scepter and putting Clint Barton and Erik Selvig under mind-control, leaving Fury defenseless. When Fury tried to escape with the Tesseract, Loki ordered him to stop before introducing himself. When they discovered that Fury was only stalling them while he waiting for the building to implode and kill them all, Loki had Barton shoot him in the chest.

Fury survived due to wearing a Bulletproof Vest and quickly made his escape, ordering Maria Hill to stop Loki and Barton escaping with the Tesseract. Fury made it to the helicopter just as the facility imploded and managed to get ahead of Barton's Jeep. While Phil Coulson was able to escape with many of the staff, Hill became trapped underneath the rubble but survived. Fury shot at Loki from the Helicopter but was quickly shot down with a powerful blast from Loki's Scepter. He survived the crash and continued to fire at Loki until he ran out of bullets, at which point he informed Coulson and Hill that their mission was a level seven and they were now at war.[6]

Desperate for a solution to the problem of Loki's possession of apparently limitless power, Fury went to the World Security Council and informed them that he was reactivating the Avengers Initiative. As they discussed what had happened, Hawley suggested called Thor but Fury made it clear that was unlikely while Gideon Malick argued that the Avengers were too unstable to make a team that could be relied upon, but Fury insisted that this war would be won with his soldiers.

Ignoring Malick's concerns, Fury met with Steve Rogers in a gym, where he was still trying to cope with having been asleep for nearly seventy years. After briefly discussing the end of World War II, Fury explained the situation to Rogers, hoping that he would be able to provide him with some insight into the Tesseract after seeing the Red Skull use it, with Rogers telling him the best thing that could be done with it would be losing it in the ocean. Although Rogers was unhappy when he learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been in possession of the Tesseract, Fury was able to recruit him, and dispatched agents to call in the help of Tony Stark and Doctor Bruce Banner.

All the key Avengers candidates were collected and brought onto the Helicarrier by Natasha Romanoff and Phil Coulson, who gave each of them a full briefing about Loki and their plan to stop him. When they all arrived on the Helicarrier, were introduced to one another and brought safely inside the main control room, Fury ordered that the ship be launched into the air and then vanish as Maria Hill relayed his orders to the crew. Seeing the incredible sight allowed Rogers to quietly hand Fury ten dollars to complete a bet they had made about whether or not Rogers could be surprised by anything new since fighting HYDRA and waking up in the modern era.

Fury welcomed them all onto the ship, shaking Bruce Banner's hand and personally thanking him for agreeing to help them. Banner asked Fury how long he would be required to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D. but Fury assured him that it would only be until they found the Tesseract. Feeling more confident, Banner suggested that they begin scanning for Gamma Radiation to locate the Tesseract while Fury had Romanoff show him to his laboratory where he began focusing his efforts on searching the globe and getting help from labs around the world to find Loki and Erik Selvig quickly.

Not long after the team came together, Loki made his first public appearance in Germany, so Fury sent Rogers to capture him with a Quinjet. Loki was apprehended by the combined strength of Rogers and Stark, heralding an unexpected further addition to the collection of extraordinary people when Loki's brother Thor arrived, making demands of his own for Loki's extradition. Although a fight between Thor and Iron Man occurred, Captain America was able to end it and they were able to recruit Thor. [6]

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

With Loki now locked up on board the Helicarrier, Fury spoke to him, threatening that if he made any attempt to escape then his cell would be dropped off the ship and fall thirty thousand feet to the ground. However Loki appeared to remain confident and mocked the Avengers throughout the interrogation, despite Fury making it clear that he no longer had any power, mocking him as he walked away and left him alone.

Having discussed what Loki had said with the Avengers, Fury later spoke to Thor, who had been discussing Asgard's wars on Earth with agent Phil Coulson. Fury asked Thor if he felt he could learn what Loki's plans were but Thor remained uncertain, as Loki's mind has snapped and he now not only wanted power but vengeance on him and his family for the slights against him since learning of his past. When Thor questioned what possible risk Loki could be now he was their prisoner, Fury raised his concerns about Loki's seeming over confidence and noted that he seemed glad to be on the ship.

As Fury sent Natasha Romanoff to personally interrogate Loki and hopefully trick him into giving away his plans while she seemingly tried to bargain for Clint Barton's life, Fury was unaware of the rising tensions between the Avengers across the ship as they continued to search for the Tesseract across the world. Fury finally became aware of this as he stood in the control room and saw a warning that the ship was being hacked, allowing someone to access S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top secret documents, and Fury had no doubt about which genius rouge was to blame to then went to discover the culprit.

When Romanoff informed Fury that Loki was planning on using mind games to make Bruce Banner transform into the Hulk and destroy the Helicarrier, Fury went to retrieve Banner and take him off the ship. When he arrived he could do little to quell the rising tensions in a ship now packed with egos, and problems only escalated when some of these people uncovered his deceptions surrounding the Phase 2 project. As the argument boiled over Banner, suffering from all Loki's mind manipulation, picked up Loki's Scepter. Banner was distracted when his computer revealed the location of the Tesseract.

Before Banner could inform Fury and the others of the Tesseract's location, Loki played his hand, and Fury and the others were caught completely off guard when the Helicarrier came under attack and their engine was destroyed in a daring commando raid by Loki's mind-controlled soldiers led by Hawkeye. With one of the propellers destroyed, Fury ordered the Avengers to assemble while he returned to his post on the bridge to take command of the situation and was instrumental in warding off an assault there and ensuring Hawkeye did not gain control of the ship and drop it out of the sky.

He engaged in a gun fight alongside Maria Hill, keeping Hawkeye and his soldiers away. Fury ordered the Helicarrier to be moved over water to ensure if it crashed it would not kill innocent civilians, he then ordered Stark and Rogers to repair the propeller and keep the ship in the air while ordering Thor to battle against the Hulk who was destroying the ship from the inside. Knowing that Barton was running the attack, Fury sent Romanoff to engage him while also ordering a fighter jet to fire at the Hulk in order to force him to escape the ship, which resulted in the Hulk furiously destroying the jet.

In the aftermath of the battle, Thor and Hulk had both been thrown off the Helicarrier, while Hawkeye had been captured in the aftermath of a fight with Romanoff, during which Loki had escaped. Fury found Agent Phil Coulson severely wounded by Loki's hand, having been stabbed through the chest while he was trying to stop him using the Destroyer Armor Prototype Gun. Despite all Fury's efforts to keep Coulson alive, Coulson's wounds were fatal, and Coulson died just as a medical team arrived at the scene. Fury informed all the other agents and the Avengers of Coulson's sudden death.

Fury called a meeting with the last of the Avengers left onboard the Helicarrier, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, and explained his reasons for forming the team in the first place. Fury then showed Rogers all of Coulson's trading cards, which were stained with Coulson's blood, reminding him that Coulson had never had a chance to get his hero to sign them as he had asked. As Fury explained that he had wanted to believe in heroes as he had designed the Avengers Initiative to bring together remarkable people to save the world, he accepted that the team seemed broken and Stark got up and left the room.

Fury looks at Coulson's trading cards

As he overlooked the skyline while looking at Coulson's trading cards himself, Maria Hill questioned Fury as Coulson kept his trading cards in his locker, not his jacket as Fury had claimed; Fury explained that he had used the cards to give the team the push they needed. Fury had used Coulson's death to motivate the Avengers, hoping that Coulson's death would be a trigger that would finally unite the team. Despite the ethically questionable nature of the plan, it proved to be effective, as the Avengers were inspired to stop Loki and had set off onboard a Quinjet in pursuit of Loki shortly thereafter.[6]

The Avengers Initiative may have finally come to fruition, and the team began battling Loki's invading army in the middle of New York, but Fury's role in their battle was not yet done. The World Security Council issued orders to send a nuclear missile into the vicinity of Manhattan, which Fury refused, stating that he would not ordered the deaths of millions despite Gideon Malick's instance that they would lose everything in this war if they did not fire upon the invading force.

Fury shoots down one of his own planes.

The Council choose instead to take away Fury's command, overriding the order and sending an F-35 Lightning II to fire upon the city and kill millions of people. Hill was able to warn Fury of the launch and he ran to the launchpad in a desperate attempt to stop the jet. Fury was able to shoot the jet with a rocket launcher causing it to crash but not kill the pilot, however a second jet had been sent as well which he was unable to stop as it flew towards New York City while Fury looked on helplessly as he quickly made a new plan.

Fury called Tony Stark to warn him of the impending nuke, Stark was able to intercept the missile and fly it towards the Wormhole. At the same time, Romanoff and Erik Selvig had figured out a way to close the Wormhole using the Scepter, giving Stark only seconds to lose the missle and escape. Stark flew through the Wormhole and destroyed the alien mothership, killing all of the invading aliens. Stark barely survived the fall back to Earth but was caught and saved by the Hulk. They looked across the city and determined they had one the war as they captured the bruised and beaten Loki once again.

The Avengers Initiative ultimately won the war. Fury's defiance of the World Security Council may not have been forgotten, but his methods and actions had saved the world. Fury updated the Council on the whereabouts of the Tesseract, which had been taken back to Asgard by Thor, despite the skeptical Gideon Malick insisting that this was not Fury's decision to make. When the council asked the whereabouts of the Avengers, he told them that they were no longer being tracked as they had successfully made it clear to every world that they were dangerous and there to protect Earth.

As Fury walked across the Helicarrier's control room and overlooked the skyline, he was questioned by Maria Hill about what they would do if the world came under threat again, as now the team had gone their separate ways, with some travelling to the other end of the universe. Fury however resolved to call upon the Avengers should they be needed again, and made further assurances that they would come, why Hill asked him why he was so sure of this, he told her it would be that they would need them to.[6]

Unknown to the Avengers, Phil Coulson was brought back to life with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s advanced technology and experimental drugs.[27][28] Fury chose to hide the truth about Coulson's survival from the Avengers, classifying the information to those with Level 7 clearance or above.[6][29][28] He then buried information about Coulson's involvement in Project T.A.H.I.T.I. in Coulson's fake grave, cryptically telling Maria Hill that he buried the information about who led Project T.A.H.I.T.I. when he decided not to bury Coulson.[14]

After the Battle of New York, with the entire planet being aware of the existence of extraterrestrials and demigods, many criminals and terrorist organizations wanted to obtain some of the new technologies and weapons left by the Chitauri. Fury knew that he has to do something about that, so he instructed Agent Phil Coulson to organize a team that would prevent the worst from happening.[30] However, the true builder of Coulson's Team was Melinda May; upon orders from Fury, she covertly chose the members for very specific reasons pertaining to Coulson's resurrection. Fury also wanted May to keep him updated on Coulson, looking for signs of mental deterioration.[31]

After Coulson's mission in Peru, Fury was furious at Coulson because his plane, the Bus, was heavily damaged. He also warned him that the new recruit in his team, Skye, was a risk as she had previously been a member of the Rising Tide. As Fury left he told Coulson not to allow Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz to install a fish tank onto the plane.[32] Shortly after the battle of Greenwich, Coulson and his team were investigating the discovery of a lost Asgardian artifact known as the Berserker Staff. Coulson wanted to consult with Thor, but Fury informed him that Thor had taken himself "off the grid".[33]

According to Agent Victoria Hand, when Coulson got abducted by the Centipede Project, both Director Nick Fury and Commander Maria Hill wanted constant updates on the situation of the rescue mission coordinated by Agent Hand. Agent Hand later informed Coulson that director Fury was very relieved after hearing of Coulson's successful rescue mission.[27] A few weeks later, Agent May used a secure phone line on the Bus to call Nick Fury and tell him that Coulson knew the truth about his resurrection.[34]

Wishing to prove to Rogers that he was willing to share secrets, Fury decided to take him to see Project Insight, overriding protocol to give Rogers security clearance. As they were going down in the elevator, Fury told Rogers the story of how his grandfather was often threatened and carried a gun to protect himself, telling Rogers that while his grandfather liked people he did not trust them and now they had guns somewhat bigger than what his grandfather's had.

Fury revealed to Rogers that S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to preemptively eliminate their enemies through the new Project InsightHelicarriers. Rogers however who mortified with the concept, noting how this meant that people were being killed before they had a chance to commit a crime, something that could be highly dangerous. Fury responded that soldiers like Rogers in World War II were involved in various war crimes too but Rogers refused to budge on his stance.

As Fury returned to his office and prepared to look into the files that Natasha Romanoff had gathered from the Lemurian Star, he found that he did not have clearance for the files. This confused Fury as there were very few to no documents which he was not cleared to access, this raised his suspicions that Project Insight could be a risk. Fury went into the elevator and prepared to speak to the only other man who could have access to the blocked file.

Fury found Alexander Pierce speaking to the World Security Council about the Hijacking and Retaking of the Lemurian Star, defending Fury's actions involving the mission and discussing Georges Batroc. Fury pulled Pierce out of the meeting and asked Secretary Pierce to delay Project Insight's launch, hesitant of the possible dangers of Project Insight to the world, Pierce was incredibly reluctant as he knew the amount of work which would go into such an action but Fury insisted that it would be worthwhile. Pierce agreed with one condition, that Fury have Iron Man visit his niece's birthday party, Fury agreed and the pair shook hands and departed.[3]

Afterward, Fury drove across Washington, D.C. and called Maria Hill, telling her to come to Washington to discuss his theories about Project Insight and giving her three hours to arrive, which she did not question. As Fury continued driving, he encountered two police officers who appeared to be watching him, so Fury insulted the pair, assuming that they were simply being racist and rude towards him.

Before he could react a group of HYDRA agents disguised as cops attacked Fury while he was driving, slamming into his car and using an Electronic Battering Ram to try and get through the car's armor. Despite a broken arm, Fury was able to use his car's defence mechanisms to fight back against the assassins, using a machine gun against them before driving away. During a prolonged car chase, Fury continued to fight and outwit his attackers while driving.

Just as he nearly got safety after causing two of his assassin's car to be hit by a passing lorry, Fury encountered an assassin known as the Winter Soldier, who used a Magnetic Disk Grenade to disable Fury's SUV, causing it to violently crash and greatly injure Fury. Before the Winter Soldier could walk to the car and execute Fury, Fury used a Mouse Hole to cut through the SUV and escape into the sewers, seeking assistance from the only person he felt he could trust.

Fury retreated to Steve Rogers' apartment and sat waiting in the darkness while listening to music. When Rogers arrived after speaking to his neighbor, Fury greeted him and showed him his injuries to express the seriousness of the situation while using coded messages to try and communicate the situation to him, as he knew that his apartment was bugged, claiming that he had been thrown out of his house by his wife, who very few people knew about.

However, the Winter Soldier followed Fury there and fired two sniper round through the wall and into his chest, mortally wounding him. As Fury struggled for breath he gave Rogers the hard drive and told him not to trust anyone. Sharon Carter arrived and treated Fury's wounds while Rogers chased the Winter Soldier. Rogers was unable to capture the assassin and Fury was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. His body was then taken by Hill.[3]

Fury told the group that they needed to destroy Project Insight and save S.H.I.E.L.D., but Rogers insisted that he intended to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. entirely, pointing out that Fury's compartmentalization and secrecy was what allowed HYDRA to infiltrate the organization, as well as create the Winter Soldier. Although Fury told him that he had not known about the Winter Soldier, Captain America pointed out that he probably would not have told him even if he had. Realizing that Romanoff, Wilson and Hill agreed with Rogers, he agreed to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.

While Pierce joked about having sent flowers to Fury's funeral, he attempted to justify his actions of attempting to assassinate him and cause mass-genocide to Fury by comparing Project Insight to what Fury did in Bogotá, not waiting for orders but doing what needed to be done. Fury asked why Pierce made him Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce explained that it was because he felt Fury was the best at what he did as well as being the most ruthless person he'd ever met.

Fury and Romanoff explained that they intended to release all of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA's files onto the internet, exposing Pierce as a traitor, However Pierce remained confident as he had ensured that Fury's clearance had already been wiped from the system, but Fury explained that to stay ahead of him, he needed to keep both eyes open. Fury then used his blind eye, which Pierce had forgotten to delete from the retina scan, to unlock the system.

When Pierce attempted to turn the tables on his situation, killing all the members of the World Security Council and trying to take Romanoff hostage, Fury was left with no choice but to surrender to save his friend's life. However when Romanoff used a Taser Disk to disable the miniature bomb attached to her, Fury used the opportunity to shoot Pierce twice in the chest, killing him and leaving his body behind as he helped Romanoff get back to her feet.

Fury pilots a helicopter away from the battle

Fury and Romanoff escaped in a helicopter and witnessed Captain America successfully complete their mission, destroying all of the Helicarriers while battling the Winter Soldier. As Fury flew the Helicopter, one of the Project Insight Helicarriers crashed into the side of the Triskelion, causing Sam Wilson to run for his life until he leaped from the window and barely managed to land inside the helicopter due to Fury's exceptional piloting skills.

Fury destroying the things of his former life.

Rogers managed to survive his battle with the Winter Soldier and their mission was complete, resulting in the world learning of HYDRA's attempt to take over the world. Following the subsequent fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury went into hiding, burning his possessions, replacing his eyepatch with a pair of sunglasses along with wardrobe change to blend into a crowd.[3] Only a select few others were given knowledge of his survival including Eric Koenig and Phil Coulson.[36]

Departing

Fury went to his fake gravesite to talk to Captain America, Falcon, and Black Widow before he went into hiding. Fury left for Europe, intending to seek out and destroy the remaining HYDRA cells. He asked if Falcon would like to join him, but Falcon refused, saying that he was a soldier, not a spy. As they shook hands, Fury reminded them not to tell anyone of his survival.[3]

Fury later guided Agent Phil Coulson to a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the Canadian wilderness, using Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. badge to send the base's coordinates. Coulson took a leap of faith in assuming that Fury and not HYDRA had sent the coordinates. Once at Providence, Agent Eric Koenig assured Coulson that Fury was alive, but that only they, Hill, and a few of the Avengers were aware of this. Koenig instructed Coulson to keep it secret from his team for the time being, as Koenig had yet to vet them to his satisfaction.[36]

Melinda May confronted Maria Hill to find out who led Project T.A.H.I.T.I., so Hill simply told her the cryptic answer that Fury had given her. May then suggested that Hill ask Fury herself, but Hill quickly said that Fury was dead. May, doubting this, replied that she would believe that when she saw it herself. Later, May realized what Fury meant by his riddle and recovered the video in Coulson's grave.[14]

On his way to Europe, Fury received a weak distress call which led him to Agents Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, who were stranded in the ocean. He managed to rescue both of them, although Fitz suffered brain damage from the ordeal. When Simmons awoke while being treated however, she was able to provide him with the information he needed to find Phil Coulson. Fury headed to the Cybertek Manufacturing Facility where Coulson was involved with a fight against HYDRA.

Fury managed to locate Coulson in a fierce battle against the rouge S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett, who had gained super strength, as Coulson crawled for cover he found Fury waiting for him, joking about his current appearance since going underground. Although Coulson was furious about being kept in the dark about Project T.A.H.I.T.I., they agreed it was best to focus on defeating Garrett, so Fury supplied Coulson with the Destroyer gun. Together they fought the HYDRA traitor Garrett, who had become extremely powerful due to being injected with the GH.325 serum.

While Coulson blasted away his bodyguards, Garrett was able to survive when Fury shot him multiple times in the chest due to his new enhanced healing and began mocking Fury and Coulson. As Garrett continued to monologue about his plans, Fury was able to correct him when he misquoted one of Fury's speeches, making it clear that his mind set was all wrong. However Skye managed to communicate with Deathlok who betrayed Garrett and killed him by crushing his head while Fury and Coulson looked on without sympathy.[37]

A New Foundation

On the Bus, Phil Coulson, accompanied by Melinda May, infuriated, yelled at Fury because he proceeded to use the Project T.A.H.I.T.I. on him even after Coulson told him that the procedure was dangerous. Fury told Coulson that he brought Coulson back because he was one of the few people that he trusted and told Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s goal was founded on the purest of ideas: protection. He then gave Coulson the Toolbox, a device that contained everything Coulson would need to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. and appointed him as the new Director.

Fury leaves to go underground for a time

Once he had told him that how S.H.I.E.L.D. proceeded from here was up to Coulson, Fury then got up and prepared to leave the Bus, telling Coulson that he intended to put his focus on having his feet on the ground rather than having a view of everything like he had as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. When Coulson suggested that he meant he would disappear, Fury laughed and lifted up his sunglasses to reveal his scarred eye, telling Coulson with a smile that he should know him better than that as he would be everywhere, he then turned around he walked away, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. in the best hands.[37]

When Tony Stark inadvertently created an artificial intelligence robot known as Ultron, his creation immediately turned against humanity and declared war with mankind. The Avengers battled Ultron and the Maximoff twins whom Ultron had recruited; however the battle left almost all the Earth's Mightest Heroes wounded both physically and mentally.

The team traveled to Clint Barton's Homestead where Fury was waiting. Fury spoke to Stark in private and tried to get his mind back on track after Wanda Maximoff had used her powers to make Stark see visions of a terrible future in which the Avengers had been killed. When Stark claimed that he would be responsible for the deaths of his friends, Fury reminded him that he did not invent the concept of hate and war, but he could fight against them.

Having revealed his survival to the rest of the Avengers, Fury and the team discussed their next move. Natasha Romanoff mocked Stark for his failure to save the world and Fury tried to offer them all the confidence to go into battle again to save the world. Romanoff also commented that she had hoped Fury would have more to offer but he insisted that this team was enough and together they could stand and outwit and defeat Ultron and his army.

Eventually Bruce Banner worked out the Ultron's next more would be to force Helen Cho to build him a new body out of Vibranium and the Scepter, one that if he was able to use, he would be too powerful to stop, so they got ready to investigate in Seoul. As the team prepared for their next battle with Ultron, Fury spoke to Stark and requested Maria Hill's assistance with the next stage in his plan to help the Avengers, which he accepted without any hesitation.[38]

Fury had secretly been working with Phil Coulson on a project known as the Theta Protocol, a hidden Helicarrier kept completely off the records for emergency use only. With Coulson's[39] and Maria Hill's help, Fury gathered together a team of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and took possession of the Helicarrier. While the Avengers continued their battle with Ultron's army, Fury arrived in the Helicarrier and used the Transporters to take the civilians to safety; he sent War Machine into the battle to fight the army of Ultron robots.

Midway through the battle, one of the Ultron Sentries crashed onto the bridge of the Helicarrier and attempted to kill the crew inside, going straight for Cameron Klein. Although Maria Hill shot at the robot multiple times, this did not seem to slow the machine down. Fury finally managed to destroy it by stabbing it through the head with a piece of debris. With Fury's help, the Avengers were able to destroy Ultron and save thousands of lives.[38]

New Avengers

Fury later arrived at the New Avengers Facility in upstate New York and told Natasha Romanoff the last known location of the Avengers Quinjet, which the Hulk had taken at the end of the battle. He suggested that Banner had likely escaped and gone to live in peace. Romanoff asked Fury if he had known she and Banner would get feelings for each other; Fury answered that he had simply hoped for the best and had gotten a great team for them to use.[38]

Personality

"Why make me head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?""Because you're the best. And the most ruthless person I ever met.""I did what I did to protect people."

Nick Fury is somewhat of an enigma, but his actions prove him to be bold and pragmatic. It's nearly impossible to read his emotions. He is known to manipulate people and is the bearer of many, classified, global security secrets. Nor does he tell whatever happened to his missing eye. However, while showing Project Insight to Steve Rogers he gives a backstory saying, "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.", insinuating he doesn't trust easily and he is known to compartmentalize.

Fury and his organisation, S.H.I.E.L.D., share a cynical outlook. Sometimes, Fury finds that cutthroat actions and clandestine, illegal operations are necessary to protect the world. Fury stated that "the world is filling up with people that can't be matched" and advocates methods for S.H.I.E.L.D. to arm themselves against potential threats, even if it involves creating weapons of mass destruction. Fury himself quotes "that S.H.I.E.L.D. sees the world as it is, not how it likes to be seen"; though Captain America believed that Project Insight was controlling people using fear. Fury's main goal was world safety against alien and human threats, going so far as to create a team of people with extraordinary abilities called the Avengers and secretly planned to use an unlimited power source for weapons as a secondary security option. The latter was kept secret, even from the Avengers.

While his decisions make him appear ruthless and the nature of his profession occasionally requires a moral grey, Fury genuinely cares about human life and didn't see his agents or Avengers as pawns. One of his own agents, Phil Coulson, was also his closest friend and he seems to trust people like Maria Hill and Steve Rogers. However, he did use the death of Phil Coulson to motivate the Avengers and used alien biology to bring him back to life, no matter how much Coulson begged to die. In fact, he would often help the Avengers, whether by providing resources or motivating them during turbulent times. When New York was under attack by the Chitauri, the World Security Council insisted on a nuclear strike on New York, but Fury refused to destroy a populated city. He was also seen rescuing people from Sokovia when Ultron uplifted it in the air and intended to use it as a weapon against Earth. In spite of the seriousness of his job, Fury has displayed a knack for dry humor and a use of visual puns whilst regarding his missing eye and his constant global surveilence, often using irony and metaphors due to the combination, i.e. referring to Tony Stark "I've got my eye on you".

Abilities

"His communication skills, flawed, but he could always see five steps ahead, which, for a one-eyed man, is impressive."

Master Spy: When Fury needed intelligence on Bruce Banner, he sat practically unnoticed among restaurant patrons to observe him. Fury managed to make the majority of those who knew him think he was dead, including HYDRA.

Expert Martial Artist: Fury is a seasoned unarmed and armed-combat expert and veteran. He was able to take down two brainwashed agents with ease.

Expert Marksman: Nick is also trained to use U.S. military firearms. He is highly proficient in artillery such as a Rocket Launcher to accurately disable a F-35 Lightning from taking off to bombed Manhattan. During the HYDRA assassination attempt on his life, Nick used the built in Turret of his personal SUV with expert precision, killing multiple HYDRA assassins in quick succession.

Master Pilot: Fury was able to pilot a helicopter onto the helipad at the Triskelion and maneuver it through rubble in order to save Sam Wilson during the Triskelion's destruction.

Airtronic RPG-7: A heavy rocket launcher that Fury used to disable a F-35 Lightning II that had received orders to drop a nuclear bomb on Manhattan. Though he successfully shot the rocked and prevented the plane from taking off, another F-35 had been ordered to do the same, and Fury was unable to prevent it.

Other Equipment

S.H.I.E.L.D. Uniform: made from 9-ply Kevlar (able to withstand ballistic impact up to .45 caliber bullets) and a fire-resistant material whose kindling temperature is 1,700 °F (930 °C). It includes numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. paraphernalia such a radio-link tie.

Nick Fury's SUV: Fury has a computerized SUV with flight capabilities that is armed with machine guns and grenade launchers.

Also, Fury has access to an array of S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons, conventional and otherwise. In addition, due to him being the leader of a secret but covert/military organization, he has access to the most cutting-edge technology S.H.I.E.L.D. has to offer.

Trivia

Although most of the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are based off of their mainstream counterparts, this Nick Fury is modeled after his Ultimate version, who is himself modeled after Samuel L. Jackson. The mainstream version of Nick Fury is an Italian American veteran of World War II, who would later be replaced by his illegitimate son, Nicholas Joseph Fury Jr, a character virtually identical to the Ultimate Nick Fury, following the success of the movies.

Coincidentally, in the Ultimate comics, Nick Fury said that if he could choose any actor to portray him on film, he would choose Samuel L. Jackson.

However, the MCU version shares many traits with his mainstream counterpart, such as being a colonel of the United States Armed Forces instead of a general, or retaining his blinded eye instead of having actually lost his left eye.

Nick Fury shares his birthday with his actor, Samuel L. Jackson. The year is different though as Jackson was born in 1948 whereas Fury is supposedly listed as 1951. This birthdate noticeably does not appear on his tombstone in Winter Soldier which could stand to possible reason it may not be his real birthdate. Given his past as a spy and the fact that he will lie in order to protect the truth it's not out of the question for him to lie about his age.

During the filming of The Avengers, Samuel L. Jackson showed up unannounced and dressed as Nick Fury in one of the sets of the TV series Breaking Bad, asking to be an extra in one of the scenes set at the Pollos Hermanos restaurants. The series' producers denied his request.